Diode laser apparatus with FAC lens out-of-plane beam steering

An apparatus, comprising:

• a first laser diode situated to emit a beam from an exit facet along an optical axis, the beam as emitted having perpendicular fast and slow axes perpendicular to the optical axis;
• a first fast axis collimator (FAC) optically coupled to the beam as emitted from the exit facet and configured to direct the beam along a redirected beam axis having a non-zero angle with respect to the optical axis of the first laser diode;
• a second laser diode situated to emit a beam from an exit facet of the second laser diode along an optical axis parallel to the optical axis of the first laser diode and with a slow axis in a common plane with the slow axis of the first laser diode;
• a second fast axis collimator (FAC) optically coupled to the beam as emitted from the exit facet of the second laser diode and configured to direct the beam along a redirected beam axis having a non-zero angle with respect to the optical axis of the second laser diode;
• and
• a laser diode package housing having a housing surface;
• and
• a submount configured to secure the first and second laser diodes in relation to the housing surface;
• wherein the submount comprises a plurality of submount blocks spaced apart from each other and attached to the housing surface and the first and second laser diodes.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a first laser diode situated to emit a beam from an exit facet along an optical axis, the beam as emitted having perpendicular fast and slow axes perpendicular to the optical axis;
• a first fast axis collimator (FAC) optically coupled to the beam as emitted from the exit facet and configured to direct the beam along a redirected beam axis having a non-zero angle with respect to the optical axis of the first laser diode;
• a second laser diode situated to emit a beam from an exit facet of the second laser diode along an optical axis parallel to the optical axis of the first laser diode and with a slow axis in a common plane with the slow axis of the first laser diode;
• a second fast axis collimator (FAC) optically coupled to the beam as emitted from the exit facet of the second laser diode and configured to direct the beam along a redirected beam axis having a non-zero angle with respect to the optical axis of the second laser diode, wherein the non-zero angle between the optical axis of the first laser diode and its redirected beam axis is the same as the non-zero angle between the optical axis of the second laser diode and its redirected beam axis;
• and
• first and second turning mirrors situated to receive the beams along the respective redirected beam axes and to turn the beams to become stacked along the fast axes;
• wherein at least one of the first or second turning mirrors includes a chamfer configured to provide clearance for the beam turned by the other of the first or second turning mirrors to propagate adjacent to the chamfer.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a first laser diode situated to emit a beam from an exit facet along an optical axis, the beam as emitted having perpendicular fast and slow axes perpendicular to the optical axis;
• a first fast axis collimator (FAC) optically coupled to the beam as emitted from the exit facet and configured to direct the beam along a redirected beam axis having a non-zero angle with respect to the optical axis of the first laser diode;
• a second laser diode situated to emit a beam from an exit facet of the second laser diode along an optical axis parallel to the optical axis of the first laser diode and with a slow axis in a common plane with the slow axis of the first laser diode;
• a second fast axis collimator (FAC) optically coupled to the beam as emitted from the exit facet of the second laser diode and configured to direct the beam along a redirected beam axis having a non-zero angle with respect to the optical axis of the second laser diode, wherein the non-zero angle between the optical axis of the first laser diode and its redirected beam axis is the same as the non-zero angle between the optical axis of the second laser diode and its redirected beam axis;
• first and second turning mirrors situated to receive the beams along the respective redirected beam axes and to turn the beams to become stacked along the fast axes;
• focusing optics configured to couple the stacked beams into an optical fiber;
• and
• a polarization multiplexer to combine the stacked beams with another stack of beams.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a first laser diode situated to emit a beam from an exit facet along an optical axis, the beam as emitted having perpendicular fast and slow axes perpendicular to the optical axis;
• a first fast axis collimator (FAC) optically coupled to the beam as emitted from the exit facet and configured to direct the beam along a redirected beam axis having a non-zero angle with respect to the optical axis of the first laser diode;
• a second laser diode situated to emit a beam from an exit facet of the second laser diode along an optical axis parallel to the optical axis of the first laser diode and with a slow axis in a common plane with the slow axis of the first laser diode;
• and
• a second fast axis collimator (FAC) optically coupled to the beam as emitted from the exit facet of the second laser diode and configured to direct the beam along a redirected beam axis having a non-zero angle with respect to the optical axis of the second laser diode;
• wherein the non-zero angle between the optical axis of the first laser diode and its redirected beam axis is the same number but opposite sign as the non-zero angle between the optical axis of the second laser diode and its redirected beam axis.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a first laser diode situated to emit a beam from an exit facet along an optical axis, the beam as emitted having perpendicular fast and slow axes perpendicular to the optical axis;
• a first fast axis collimator (FAC) optically coupled to the beam as emitted from the exit facet and configured to direct the beam along a redirected beam axis having a non-zero angle with respect to the optical axis of the first laser diode;
• a second laser diode situated to emit a beam from an exit facet of the second laser diode along an optical axis parallel to the optical axis of the first laser diode and with a slow axis in a common plane with the slow axis of the first laser diode;
• a second fast axis collimator (FAC) optically coupled to the beam as emitted from the exit facet of the second laser diode and configured to direct the beam along a redirected beam axis having a non-zero angle with respect to the optical axis of the second laser diode;
• and
• first and second wedge prisms situated to receive the beams along the respective redirected beam axes and configured to redirect the beams to propagate at a common angle with respect to the common plane.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a first laser diode situated to emit a beam from an exit facet along an optical axis, the beam as emitted having perpendicular fast and slow axes perpendicular to the optical axis;
• a first fast axis collimator (FAC) optically coupled to the beam as emitted from the exit facet and configured to direct the beam along a redirected beam axis having a non-zero angle with respect to the optical axis of the first laser diode;
• a second laser diode situated to emit a beam from an exit of the second laser diode along an optical axis parallel to the optical axis of the first laser diode and with a slow axis in a common plane as the slow axis of the first laser diode;
• a second fast axis collimator (FAC) optically coupled to the beam as emitted from the exit facet of the second laser diode and configured to direct the beam along a beam axis that is collinear with the optical axis of the second laser diode;
• a laser diode package housing having a housing surface;
• and
• a submount configured to secure the first and second laser diodes in relation to the housing surface;
• wherein the submount comprises a plurality of submount blocks spaced apart from each other and attached to the housing surface and the first and second laser diodes.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a first laser diode situated to emit a beam from an exit facet along an optical axis, the beam as emitted having perpendicular fast and slow axes perpendicular to the optical axis;
• and
• a first fast axis collimator (FAC) optically coupled to the beam as emitted from the exit facet and configured to direct the beam along a redirected beam axis having a non-zero angle with respect to the optical axis of the first laser diode;
• wherein the first FAC has an optical axis arranged at an angle with respect to the optical axis of the first laser diode to produce the non-zero angle of the redirected beam axis.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a first laser diode situated to emit a beam from an exit facet along an optical axis, the beam as emitted having perpendicular fast and slow axes perpendicular to the optical axis;
• a first fast axis collimator (FAC) optically coupled to the beam as emitted from the exit facet and configured to direct the beam along a redirected beam axis having a non-zero angle with respect to the optical axis of the first laser diode;
• a second laser diode situated to emit a beam from an exit facet of the second laser diode along an optical axis parallel to the optical axis of the first laser diode and with a slow axis in a common plane with the slow axis of the first laser diode;
• a second fast axis collimator (FAC) optically coupled to the beam as emitted from the exit facet of the second laser diode and configured to direct the beam along a redirected beam axis having a non-zero angle with respect to the optical axis of the second laser diode
• a laser diode package housing having a housing surface;
• a submount configured to secure the first and second laser diodes in relation to the housing surface;
• and
• a cooling block coupled to the housing and configured to flow a coolant, wherein the cooling block includes a cooling channel that is coupled to a thermal coupling surface of the housing that is situated opposite the housing surface.